No recognition of Israel as Jewish state, Abbas says
Recognition must be mutual for deal, Netanyahu says.
RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said there is “no way” he will recognize Israel as a Jewish state and accept a Palestinian capital in just a portion of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, rebuffing what Palestinians fear will be key elements of a U.S. peace plan.
Abbas’ comments signaled that the gaps between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain wide af- ter seven months of mediation efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Abbas, whose remarks were published Friday by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, said he withstood international pressure in the past, when he sought U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine over Washington’s objections.
Speaking to youth activists of his Fatah party, he suggested he would stand firm again, particularly over the demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
“They are pressing and saying, ‘No peace without the Jewish state,’” he said, though not spelling out who is applying the pres- sure. “There is no way. We will not accept.”
Netanyahu gave interviews to Israeli TV stations, excerpts of which were aired Friday night.
“I am ready to proceed, I am ready to reach the end of the conflict, but it must be the end of the conflict,” Netanyahu told Channel 10 TV. “We won’t allow the establishment of a Palestinian state so that it will continue the conflict, so it needs to recognize the state of the Jews just like they are demanding from us that we recognize the state of the Palestinians.”
Netanyahu said Jerusalem will remain under Israeli sovereignty.
Netanyahu has said such recognition is required as proof that the Palestinians are serious about peace. Abbas has noted that the Palestine Liberation Organization recognized the state of Israel in 1993 and said this is sufficient.
Palestinians fear the demand is an Israel attempt to restrict possible return options of Palestinian refugees and the rights of Israel’s large Arab minority.
Kerry is expected to present his ideas for the contours of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal soon, but it appears increasingly unlikely he can get Abbas and Netanyahu to accept such a framework by an April 29 deadline.
Abbas is meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on March 17, as part of U.S. efforts to press both sides. Netanyahu met with Obama earlier this week.
The current round of talks began in late July but was plagued from the start by disagreement between Abbas and Netanyahu on the ground rules. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in 1967, and said talks about that state should use the 1967 lines as a starting point, a position backed by the U.S. but rejected by Netanyahu.
In previous negotiations with Netanyahu’s predecessors, the Palestinians have said that they are willing to accept minor land swaps to enable Israel to keep some of the dozens of Jewish settlements built on occupied land since 1967. Most of the international community deems those settlements illegal under international law.